


Fly With Blue

by NotEvenNightshade



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Circus Voltron, Circus Voltron AU, Contortionist Pidge, Fire Eater Keith, Hurt Lance, I've waited for this for SO LONG, Knife Thrower Keith, M/M, Ringmaster Coran, Shay's in this too I swear, Slow Burn, Tags to be added, Trapeze Artist Lance, Trapeze artist Allura, because i have no patience, but not like super slow burn, strong man hunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-16 14:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12344403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotEvenNightshade/pseuds/NotEvenNightshade
Summary: Consider A Voltron Circus AU.After quitting college to peruse his dream of working in a circus as a Trapeze artist ends up in flames, Lance needs a new start.After trying job after job after job, he lands an audition at the very homely circus, "Altea".Things are finally starting to look up, but despite how much he wants to keep his past a secret, it follows him everywhere he goes.He needs to figure out how to stop the people in his past from ruining him and everything he's worked for at Altea circus.Good thing the mysterious Knife Thrower in red seems to know how to help.But they need to figure out how to stop their pasts destroying everything they love, and fast.Update 10.02.18: (Changed the name slightly, kids. Still the same ol' circus AU)





	1. The Start

**Author's Note:**

> I'm screaming I can't believe I'm finally uploading this.
> 
> Hey! So a while back the wonderful "@Redketihs" on tumblr came up with an amazing Circus AU- and ya girl decided to try and write it.  
> With the help of redkeiths, we came up with a really cool plot that hopefully you guys will really like it!  
> This has been in the works for a while, but I'm not super experienced with fanfic writing, so eek I'm worried. (Also I'm British so I'll write things like "Mum" instead of "Mom" and whatnot)
> 
> This is my [Tumblr](https://notevennightshade.tumblr.com/) if ya wanna talk to me on there 
> 
> Updates will be every two weeks (hopefully)  
> (The title is under construction and v likely to change within the next update, if you guys have any suggestions that would be awesome)  
> Commens and Kudos make me insanely happy <3

Lance didn't believe in fate.

  
Or destiny, for that matter.  
  
What kind of messed up "fate" made him decide to drop out of college to pursue his *totally stable* trapeze job?  
A trapeze job which, by the way, was supposed to be his big break, his big *chance in the spotlight*, which ended up lasting 5 short, bitter months in a huge, disgusting fiery mess that he never, ever wanted to think about again.  
  
"Fate" had left him practically homeless, without any sort of further education, and very, very alone.  
  
He didn't even want to imagine what his mum would think.  
Of course, she wasn't over the moon about him dropping out of his astrology degree not even 3 months into university, but once lance convinced her that the trapeze gig would support him financially better than any part time job at Starbucks ever could, as well as it being a long time thing, and would "open up doors for me that I've always wanted mama!" She supported him all the way. Something of which other family members constantly looked down on her now. Still, she kept her love for her son fiercely and trusted him to be responsible enough to know what he was doing and not  _fuck it up completely._  
  
So no, he was _not_ about to go running to her and beg for help, or advice. All the other family members would take pride in ridiculing him rather than helping. Nor was he going to beg to his old Uni about reapplying.

He was just going to have to figure this out on his own.  
  
Which is how he came to be sitting in a coffee shop, anxiously awaiting his meeting with Mr. Coran, ringmaster of Altea, the international travelling circus, as well as the owner, Mr. Alfor.  
  
After trying what seemed like hundreds of jobs, all to no avail, he decided to try his luck in the Circus genre again, despite his previous disaster.  Ironically enough, he had been granted an interview almost immediately, whilst the other, mundane jobs that he had applied to hadn't even bothered to call back.  
  
He had been sitting for almost 15 minutes when eventually a man strolled in, wearing what looked like a...cape? No, not a cape, but an oversized anime style jacket that just *screamed* attention, navy blue and orange swirls decorating the surface. It was bedazzled with bright orange gems, and lance was willing to bet you could use it as a disco ball. His very ginger hair was managed to perfection, and his moustache swirled to the tips, waxed and combed with delicate precision.  
  
With him stood a tall tan man with a shock of white hair falling softly to the tips of his shoulders, and kind, yet aging features. He was dressed far more sensibly, wearing  a smart black suit, however what stood out the most to lance were his tattoos, etched across both cheeks, small yet prominent.  
The ginger man looked eagerly around the nonchalant customers littered around the slightly molding coffee shop, until his eyes finally met with Lance's, and they lit up, before taking huge strides up to go greet him, the second man following behind.  
"Lance M'boy! It's so nice to finally meet you!" The ginger man shook lance's hand firmly and sat down in the opposite wooden chair. "I do hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, eh?"  
"No, not long at all, thanks Mr Coran."  
"Ah there's no need for such formality!" His British accent made him seem all the more boisterous, somehow. "After I read your resume, I must say, I was deeply impressed. Such talent at such a young age! Truly, me and my partner here simply had to meet with you"  
  
"Yes, I must say Mr McClain, you did seem like someone we would be interested in hiring." The white haired man, Alfor, remarked. He was much calmer, more quiet,yet somehow his words held power, intimidation, intelligence. "However, I have to ask, what made you leave your...previous establishment?"  
Lance knew it had been coming, he knew that it would be the first thing people asked, but that didn't mean he didn't flinch slightly at the question.  
"I uh...I don't really wanna get into it , if that's okay with you, Mr Alfor. It just..wasn't a good environment for me, I guess"  
Coran nodded with understanding.  
"Sometimes you just have to find the best place for you, eh? Well you don't need to worry lance, from what it looks like, you're going to be a good addition to our little family in Altea!"  
"That is, Mr McClain, if you would be willing to show us a performance or two in the tent?" Alfor asked, "Just so we know if you're what we're looking for"  
Lance could hardly dare to believe this. After days, weeks, _months_ of trying, suddenly it was finally, finally, working out. He forced himself to remain calm, collected and professional. "Uh, yeah, I can do that! And uh, just Lance is fine. I don't mind performing at all, just, when do you want me too?  
  
"How about you swing by tomorrow, around noon? My performers won't be due for another couple of hours for their rehearsal, and we can finish up the full extent of the job interview then" Corans kind eyes twinkled "You can show us what you can do"  
  
Lance didn't even bother to conceal his excitement anymore, as he replied "That sounds great! I promise you, you won't regret it!" 

* * *

 

When the time came, he found himself spending almost half an hour attempting to pick the perfect outfit for his performance. Stupidly he had forgotten to ask whether or not he was to perform in uniform, so decided he would wear his training clothes; simple sweatpants and a vest, whilst bringing a costume.

Finally, finally, he went with his signature blue and black body suit:loving the large silver swirls lying across his chest, the soft light blue patterns decorating each legs. It was easily his favourite, and it made him feel powerful, in control, as if he could pull of any routine thrown at him. It was also one of the first he had ever performed in, yet somehow maintained its shiny, brand new appearance. It was the safest option for his nerves, making one less thing to worry about through the audition.

After thoroughly making sure he looked presentable, Lance slung the rucksack filled with his costume, shoes, and spare pieces he may need, looking over at the watch on the pale blue wall, and saw that it was almost 11:30. “Time to go” he murmured softly. “You’ve got this, Lance McClain. You’re going to do so well, people are going to speak about your audition for years.”

Nodding to himself slightly, determined to at least*look* as if he was confident, he left his apartment.  


They don't call circus tents “over the top” for nothing.

Whereas his previous gig preferred darker, more “mature” colours as their signature look, Altea chose pastel purple and blue to paint the exterior of the tents, bright pink and yellow swirls sprinkled around on the sides. The main tent stretched tall; far larger than his previous job, and he felt his heart beat so fast it felt as if it were going to burst right then and there.

Poking his head through the door (could you even call it a door?) he stood awkwardly for a couple seconds before a young lady with long silver white hair, tied up into a little bun, greeted him.

“Hey! You're lance; right?”

Lance nodded and they shook hands, noting that her hands were slightly rough.  “Nice to meet you dude, my names Allura, I'm going to partner with you today on the trapeze, that alright?”

She shared the same British accent as The ringmaster and the owner. Briefly he wondered whether having a British accent was some kind of a requirement, before jolting back into the present by her questioning look.

“Yeah, that's fine”

“Okay, cool.” She smiled, gesturing to the side door on the left, “You can warm up through there. Coran and my dad are in the middle of a meeting right now, but they'll be out in a few minutes.”

He blinked. “Uh.Alfors your-”

“He's my dad, yeah.”

“So the hair..?”

She shrugged slightly “it's a circus thing, nothing genetic.”

“Oh okay.” Changing the subject, he added, “I forgot to ask whether to bring a costume or not, so I bought one anyway, is that okay?”

She let out a little high pitched giggle, that's fine! It was totally up to you whether or not to bring one, but I just love auditions in costume. You can change in the warm up area, nobody will go through there right now. I'll wear mine as well, see you in 10!”

She smiled and walked off in the opposite direction, leaving lance to enter the warm up area.

The room was huge, with the same pastel aesthetic  as he had seen before. Soft green and purple swirled together in patterns all around the room, and he noticed how many of the equipment that lay on the floor matched the colour scheme.

He sighed a bit,nerves finally starting to ease in, and got changed.

Or at least, he _would have_ , if he wasn’t interrupted by a muffled yell and some crashing, half way through getting into his costume.

“What..the.. _hell?_ ”

Lance looked over and saw a young man, with..was that a _mullet?_ , looking incredibly surprised, a phone on the floor in front of him, with black headphones tangling into themselves on the floor.

“The hell are you doing, half naked in the training room? And who _are_ you?”

Lance blinked. “Uh, the name’s Lance, and I have an audition for a trapeze spot to go to. I was just getting changed-”

“Why were you getting changed in a training room? Have you never worked in a circus before? We have places you can change!”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t informed!” Lance said, slowly becoming more irritated. Who the hell did this guy think he was, walking in here just to yell at something he couldn’t have known about before? “ Allura told me nobody would be using this room, how was I supposed to know you’d walk in? And anyway, who even _are_ you?”

Mullet man frowned. “I’m not answering anything until you put on some clothes”

“I’m shirtless,  man! Not exactly butt naked over here!”

“Just do it!”

Mumbling a curse, he put the rest of his costume on, before gesturing to himself sarcastically and saying “Happy now?”

Mullet man did not look impressed.

“My name’s Keith, Keith Kogane, and I work here. I was just picking something up for my brother. But a little advice, next time someone tells you to change in a training room, tell them _no_.”

With that, mullet man-Keith picked up a black sweater disheveled on the floor next to him and  sauntered off, leaving Lance feeling irritated and very slightly embarrassed. Whoever this  _Keith_ guy thought he was, Lance had decided that he didn't like him one bit.


	2. Auditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance begins his audition, one solo, one joint.
> 
> Ugh, and Keith's there too, what a jerk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Hi woAH thanks for your amazing lovely response!!!
> 
> So I very almost forgot to upload this one oh no.  
> Fun fact there's a part in this that probably won't make any sort of sense right now but y'all have to hang tight with me because it will later I promise.
> 
> \- Updates are every 2 weeks (But I'll try and make it less than two weeks when things properly kick off, I am a disorganized mess so maybe not anytime soon lol sorry.)-
> 
> Literally no-one ever beta's my work, so if you spot a spelling/grammar mistake, tell me in the comments and I'll change it.
> 
> If you wanna message me, my Tumblr is "@Notevennightshade" 
> 
> Enjoy!

Lance wasn’t an amateur.

Despite what Mr. Mullet-Man had said, it hadn’t been Lance’s first time in a circus. Since he was a kid, he had visited them religiously, and taken workshops and day classes for years. In fact, he had a distant memory of dragging his older siblings, whichever one had a car license to see different circus acts.

Not to mention, he worked in a circus, and not just as a janitor, he was their spotlight act for a solid 8 months!

Ya know, before everything went to shit and he pretty much lost everything.

But, now-now, dear reader, now isn’t the time to dwell on any sort of sad or depressive thoughts from his past! The point was; Lancey Lance knew Circuses, okay?

Even so, the only thing he could think of when he entered the performing circle, was: _Huge._

Performing in a Big Top for an audition wasn’t usual. He honestly didn’t know whether to be happy or nervous about this. It wasn't as if the piece he had prepared was  _bad_ , nono, he knew his solo piece would be impressive, after all, he had been viciously trained by his previous gig to do death-defying acts on a daily basis.

It was just, he hadn't had any sort of a job in  _months_. Hell, if this gig didn't work out, his ass would be auditioning for the strip club down from where he lived. And this audition meant more to him than any of the other cashier jobs he had been rejected by. This was his entire life, he had sacrificed  _so much_ to work in a circus. It was his dream.

Still, he had to remind himself that fear was unimportant right now, despite his heart threatening to tear itself off of Lance's chest. Convincing himself he would be fine, and that _he knew what he was doing,_ he looked around the tent, hoping for some kind of familiarity from his gym he normally trained in that he could focus on

But the big top was easily able to fit 2000 people, if not more. It was, again, decorated with warm pastel colours around the interior of the tent, nothing like his old, unknown training gym. However, despite this, somehow Altea Circus gave off an atmosphere of welcoming, accepting, and although Lance being in the tent for about 20 minutes, he felt like he was right at home.

Get it together, Lance chided. _Now is not the time to get caught up in sappiness._

“Whenever you’re ready, Lance.”

Lance nodded, his breath shuddering ever so slightly. He noted the added safety net that was securely in place at the bottom, and again, felt happier he wasn't at his previous gig. Looking down at the little dots of Coran, Alfor, and Allura, he took another breath, before grabbing the top of the trapeze, and leaping off.

To call himself an “adrenaline junkie” would be an understatement. Even though his heart was beating a million times an hour after he did trick after trick after trick, he felt himself smiling widely throughout it all. This was what he loved doing, what he yearned to do and what he missed so badly after he left his old job. This was his specialty, nobody was going to take it away from him.

The audition guidelines were simple enough, he was to create a piece that showcased his talent, yet wasn’t too flashy. Something that he could show to an audience without showing off.

And Lance had just the piece. He had always kept it in the back of his head, always itching to use it but being reprimanded for even suggesting it at his old place. Back over there, he was given choreography and expected to learn it to perfection within a day of assignment, and if he wasn't he had to perform it the next day with no pay. That was the punishment, and his naive self thought was okay, that is was “just how _all_ circus jobs were."

Oh man, was he wrong.

He was glad he had left. Glad he realised what a toxic atmosphere it was. Glad he was here right now, in Altea, not there.

After about 3 minutes he ended, finishing the routine by hanging upside down off of his legs whilst swinging to the beat of the music, then kicking off and standing tall, arms outstretched upwards, head up,  breathing rather heavily, with a mixture of blood and adrenaline pounding in his ears.

He was focusing so strongly on the fact that _he didn’t slip up once goddammit,_ that he didn’t even notice gentle applause erupt from his left.

“Well down m’boy! Really, well done” Coran was walking over to him, a smile stretching to reach his eyes. “Such talent, and at such a young age as well- how old did you say you were again?”

“19”

“To have such talent at 19! My stars, you truly are a one-in-a-million performer!”

Whilst Coran babbled on for a few more minutes, Lance picked up movement in the corner of his left eye. Sure enough, when he looked around slightly, a man in a mullet was leaving the Big Top.

Keith had been watching?

Funny, Lance could’ve sworn Keith hadn’t been there when he had started. He must’ve snuck in during his routine. By the looks of his expression, as he was leaving, however, he didn’t look impressed.

Lance had decided once again that Keith -Mullet Man- Kogane, was a jerk.

* * *

Next up was his joint piece with Allura.

In the time Lance had performed separately, more of the circus folk had slowly filed into the big room, and soon enough, there was a small crowd gathered, waiting expectantly.

The piece was simple, all he would have to do is fly around for a bit and then swing her with his arms, ending with both of them somersaulting off of the trapeze and landing the finish. The point was to see whether or not he would be a compatible duo man as well as a solo act, and whilst Lance was much more experienced working alone, he had worked in groups before, and was actually pretty good at it

He nodded slowly to Allura, who was also dressed in some sort of costume, her’s pastel pink with baby blue swirls covering the chest and back, and darker blue stretching down her legs. Funny enough, upon a proper look at her, Allura looked pretty similar to Lance, the only noticeable difference her slightly darker skin tone and very white hair. But they could probably pass for siblings to some people. Lance hoped to whatever higher power there may be that this fact would bring him closer to getting the job. Hell, he would even dye his hair to match her's and call themselves the amazing sibling trapeze act if it meant he would get the job. Allura smiled back reassuringly, then continued the final parts of what he presumed was her stretching routine, which involved a lot of strength that, despite her looks, she was more than capable of.

Then the lights dimmed, a spotlight made its way over to the duo, and he heard Alfor's voice echoing through the speakers laced around the Big Top. "You may begin."

Lance closed his eyes, took a breath, and hand in hand, they began their piece.

Again, relatively simple, they started out with Lance simply swinging back and forth, until he re-positioned himself to be swinging from his feet, hands ready to take Allura. She jumped off of the ledge and he swiftly caught her, huffing slightly under the added weight. However, although it was the first time they had ever worked together, apart from their earlier rehearsal, it just felt so _natural,_ like this had been something they  _always did,_ like this was nothing out of the ordinary for them.

Allura was flexible, really, really flexible, and easily worked in tandem with Lance, both of them swinging back and forth, steadily adding more and more height whilst flipping off and the pair working together to do tricks and flips, up until the end, where they both swung themselves forward and somersaulted off of the trapeze.

Both of them landed perfectly, and Lance was so full of ecstasy he didn’t notice the soft applause erupting from the crowd.

Breathing heavily, he looked around the big top, and noted that whilst the other circus folk were smiling pleasantly, from a huge man with warm brown eyes (who looked slightly familiar) to a tiny, tiny girl dressed in green with an inquisitive stare, Keith sat slightly apart from them all, next to a man with black hair, 'cept from a shock of white hair in the front of his hair.

Huh. Keith was still here? Lance would've thought the mullet would have sauntered off to go brood somewhere. 

Not that he cared that he was here, obviously.

Because he didn't, obviously.

He glanced at Allura, who was beaming at him, breathing strongly as well.

Lance couldn’t contain a smile seeping through to his face.

He _nailed_ it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, Comments and Kudos make my fucking day, I love them so much.
> 
> I think things properly start to kick off within the next couple of chapters (I've pre-written a couple more chapters just in case my un-organized ass fails me once again and I fail to get any decent amount of writing done, and those seem more eventful in my opinion.)
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed!


	3. Altea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance spoke too soon, he didn't get the job, goddamnit.
> 
>    
> ...Right?
> 
> (A little gremlin in green has to come to the rescue.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah the feedback on this was ridiculous?! Thanks, guys! It literally makes my day!
> 
> Okay so I posted this a lot earlier than usual, and that's because I have some exams coming up and can't post during them, so I'm posting at a different schedule now!
> 
> Updates will still be every other week unless I get to a point where my disorganised ass hasn't written enough to post.

Okay, so maybe he hadn’t.

Truth be told, Lance had been expecting phone call almost immediately. Not because of anything, but they had just seemed so happy with his performance, even Keith had seemed mildly impressed, although his poker face revealed almost nothing. (Lance suspects the mullet may be influencing this.)

But a day turned into 2,3,4 and stretched itself into _3 goddamn weeks._

Where the hell had they gone? Did circus folk just not have phones or something?

He sighed. Though he really, really didn’t want to admit it, he was going to have to face the facts. No phone call, after _this long_ , could only mean one thing.

He blew it.

And he had thought everything went so well? He kept looking over the audition day, attempting to find some sort of mistake, some sort of reasoning behind what could've caused him not to get the job.  His attitude? No, Alfor stated time and time again that he was "confident yet polite". His performance? No.. Coran had  _litereally stated_ he had "such talent".

So what the hell happened?

He wasn’t going to lie, it was pretty irritating. They had acted so happy with all of his tricks and his entire performance seemed to captivate the ringmaster. What kind of person shows that much of affection towards a job audition, all to not return with anything?

Apparently, circus folk.

But, dear reader, the brutal reality was, Lancey Lance needed a job. Fast. It was getting to the point where he was considering reapplying to his old job, much as he hated everything about it, simply because he was in dire need of money.

And although pride got in the way of telling his family, they had never been full of money themselves, and telling his mum would only bring her worry with no solution.

Mentally noting that it was probably time to apply for food stamps, he glanced back at the brochure the receptionist had thrust at his chest as he was leaving.

“Altea circus”

Ugh, just looking at it made his heart pang slightly. It was gorgeous, with pastel purple, pink, blue and green colours painted in the background, and deep blue writing decorating the surface, reading “Altea”

Maybe he could go back, and beg for another chance? He could tell them that he had a bad day or something, they could buy that... maybe.

Ugh, who was he kidding?

This was hopeless.

* * *

 

His music was so loud he almost missed the high pitched screech in the workout room he had retired to, thinking that if he had negative energy, he may as well use it up in his training gym. It was run down, slightly droopy and could be considered “falling apart”, but _man,_ Lance loved it with every inch of his being. The people who ran it usually left him alone, and everyone else who used the gym were just as broke as him, and he had managed to make some friends as a result of this.

Slightly miffed, Lance pulled an earbud out and inspected the source of the noise.

A young woman, dressed in mostly green, and short peanut coloured hair with glasses and a mischievous smile planted across her face.

“Oh my god, there you are!”

She might’ve looked small, but man, she was fast. Within a blink of an eye, she was standing over him despite her short frame, and her smile mirrored that of the Cheshire cat, reaching her eyes as she looked up at Lance's slightly confused expression.

“You have no idea how tough you are to find. I’ve literally been searching all day and this was like, the last place I thought of. Should’ve known, I mean where else would someone like you train? Wait no, scratch that, you could’ve gone-“

“Uh..what?”

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. “It’s lance, right?” He nodded. “I’m pidge, a contortionist at Altea, I was there at your audition, remember?”

Come to think of it, she did look slightly familiar, in a weird way. Trying his luck, he asked, “That’s great, but, uh.., why are you here?”

 

She gave him a slightly odd look. “Uh, I’ve been looking for you for ages, man. Why’d you put a fake mobile number on your resume?”

Lance blinked. “I didn’t”

“Well, either way, the phone number you put wasn’t real; and we’ve had literally no way of letting you know that you got the job! You’re coming to work with us in Altea!”

Lance felt his insides swoop slightly. “Seriously?? You’re...you’re being serious?”

“Of course I am, dummy” she nudged him playfully in the shoulder “even though you gave me  _hell_ to find you, I’m being serious. What dya say, wanna join Altea?”

Keep calm Lance, keep cool. “Yes!” He coughed. “Uh, yeah. That sounds really cool. When do you want me to come round?”

She stared “Now, dummy”

“Right now? Like, _now_ , now? But- I mean- I.. I haven’t gotten anything prepared!?”

At this, Pidge rolled her eyes “Lance, you’re not  _performing_ today. Just, meet the team and you can figure out a routine. You can perform it tomorrow or something, but it just depends on how fast you learn a routine, and when you comfortable performing. That sound okay?”

“Yeah..yeah it sounds great”

* * *

Lance stood in the Big Top once more, heart swelling in happiness. He looked around the room and saw Coran and Alfor, discussing something with Allura, before she noticed him standing, watching, waiting.

Breaking into a soft smile, she jogged over to Lance and started jittering straight away. "Lance! Oh, It's so great to see you managed to get here in the end! Is this all your stuff?"He nodded, and she replied, "Please, let me! I can put it in the men's changing room" She grasped at his duffle bag and he complied, letting her take it, "I'll leave you to talk to Coran and Father" she said, before gripping his duffle and walking out. 

Lance stared at her leave, before jolting at a new voice.

“Welcome,” Coran looked over, wearing a different jacket, this one with glittery black and bright orange swirls on a..leather(?) jacket. He wore a broad smile, of which half of it had disappeared under his very very ginger moustache. “Welcome to Altea.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was so rushed kjkjksjkjskjsksjksjskj sorrryyyyy
> 
> As usual, this is my [Tumblr](https://notevennightshade.tumblr.com/) if you wanna hit me up!
> 
> Comments and Kudos make my day :D


	4. Preperation and Performance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance meets the other performers and prepares for his own.
> 
> But, unbeknownst to him, people lie within the shadows, watching.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Side note: I attempted to upload this once before and it deleted EVERYTHING AND I HAD TO START OVER (not the actual chapters, but all the chapter notes and summary, aND THE EDITS AND G AH.*
> 
> Anyway:
> 
> *Jazz Hands*
> 
> I'm so so so SO sorry this took so long- Exams murdered me. I'm literally in the middle of exams right now, but I wanted a break from last-minute cramming, so here I am.
> 
> Also, I feel like this is the chapter that finally starts to get the fic going? Idk, but you'll get what I mean at the end hopefully. 
> 
> Anyways, as usual, comments and kudos make my day :D
> 
>  If you wanna chat with me on my [Tumblr](https://notevennightshade.tumblr.com/) , please feel free :D

Coran stood, beaming up at him, with Alfor slightly behind, a soft smile gracing his kind face.

“The performers are in their respective dressing rooms, although I think some are already rehearsing. Alfor stared at Lance, who was fidgeting slightly with his duffle bag which held his costume and a couple other bits and pieces. “I’ll leave you to get changed. My seamstress has you a couple costumes to choose from for your performances, although if you don’t feel ready to perform tonight, we can use them for tomorrow. Rehearsals start in 15 minutes” With that, Alfor nodded to Coran, and both of them made their way to the assortment of offices.

As he was walking over to a changing room (and not a training room, _Keith_ ) Lance had time for what they had just told him to fully sink in.

They had designed him a costume?

His _old_ place never did that sort of thing.

 _but that place was overall crap anyway, lance_ , he reminded himself. _You’re in a better place now._

He huffed slightly, and knocked on the door, only to be opened by a large Somali man, dressed in a black training gear, his shirt lacking sleeves of the sort, showing off his toned muscles. He wore a dark yellow headband, and something in Lance’s chest swooped slightly. _He knew that face._

“Lance?” The Somali man was staring at him, disbelief and wonder ever present in his eyes.

“Oh my god, Hunk??” Lance couldn’t believe his luck. “Is that really you?”

Hunk punched him in the shoulder before crushing him in a bear hug. “Of course it is dimwit! Oh my god _where have you been._ ”

The door to the changing room was fully open now, and lance noted that a couple of what he presumed were the performers stopped what they were doing and started to watch the interactions between Hunk and Lance.

Hunk, who has been his first friend during his beginners gymnastics class. Hunk, who had stood by him all during elementary and middle school, promising to always be each other’s best bros _no matter what_ , all the whilst they continued their gymnastics, Hunk on muscle building, and lance with his acrobatics.

Hunk, who moved away to another state during their freshman year of high school.

Fuck, it had been _years_.

Lance didn’t really know what to say. “Hunk- I didn’t even know you were back?!”

“I moved after senior year finished!” Due to Lance's incredulity, Hunk explained further; “I joined Altea back in DC, but when they relocated, I moved back to Florida with them. Now they travel, which is cool.” He paused, his expression growing slightly more serious. “But Lance, I tried to track you down, but everyone I asked said they knew nothing about where you were, what you were doing. Apparently people just said you vanished. Where _have_ you been?”

“Honestly... it’s a long story.” Lance sagged slightly against Hunk, and, attempting to change the subject, he said; “But..Altea..?”

“Yeah! Isn’t it cool!” Hunk smiled and guided Lance into the changing room- where Keith and a man who had jet black hair peppered with a shock of white stood, watching with curiosity. “I mean, everyone’s so _nice_ here, Lance, and it’s just like how we said it would be back when we were kids! Keith, Shiro, meet my buddy Lance.” He said to the men watching, “Lance, these are some of the people who work here, Keith and Shiro.”

“Nice to meet you, Lance.” Shiro reached out an arm to shake his hand and Lance noticed with a start that it was prosthetic. Really well done, as well. Apart from its harsh silver colour, it could easily pass for a regular human arm. “I’m Takashi Shirogane, but everyone round here calls me Shiro.”

“Easier to remember?” Lance blurted without him thinking as taking the hand and shaking it vigorously. _You idiot,_ he thought, _you’ve just gone and offended your new co-worker._

To his surprise (and relief) it instead earnt a good-natured laugh from the man before him. Despite the rough pink scar across his face, he seemed to have a calm and gentle demeanour.  “You could say that. And I think you already know Keith?”

Lance looked over at Keith, who was staring at what looked like the most fascinating thing the world had ever seen on the ground with the way he was concentrating so dearly on it, arms folded and slightly disgruntled. “Uh.. I guess, yeah.”

Shiro seemed to notice Keith’s brooding, and raised an eyebrow at the other man, who, eventually looked up at Shiro, then at Lance, before muttering a feeble, “Hey.”, and went back to staring at the ground.

What the hell was this guy’s problem?

* * *

 

After changing into his training clothes, he wandered into the training room, where Hunk was waiting for him.

“All of us train out here, and you can meet the rest of the performers. ”

Pidge was there, as well as Shiro, who was in the middle of stretching (shirtless, he’d like to note) and Lance noted the sheer amount of scars present on his body. His torso seemed to be painted with them, scars splattered across his chest. And his back seemed to be made up of more scars than skin.

Man, what _happened_ to him?

Funny enough, as he looked around the training room, there was no mullet in sight. He averted his eye towards Allura and another girl who he had been told her name was Shay. Shay stood at an entire foot taller than Lance, wearing a gorgeous dark green training outfit lance was sure had something to do with The silks. She wore a gentle smile and kind eyes, and Lance noted that Hunk seemed to keep “accidentally” eyeing her.

He’d ask about that later.

At long last, a mullet sauntered in and Lance groaned. _Ugh, this guy._ He wore a simple red hoodie and sweatpants. _Not exactly the clothes for warming up,_ Lance thought. _Probably thinks he’s so much better than the rest of us, and doesn’t_ need _to wear proper training clothes._

Yeah, that was it.

As Lance looked closer, he eyed Keith holding things to his chest, and they glinted against the light.

Wait a second..were those... _knives_?

Keith stood facing what Lance presumed was a throwing wall, set with a little target in the middle, and began to hold the knives in each hand, before stepping out of the position and throwing.

Lance held his breathe as there was a slight _thwack_ as each knife thrown hit its target with focused accuracy and precision. Keith himself seemed to be oblivious to Lance's eyes, and carried on rehearsing.

 

 _Of course_ he was a knife thrower.

Which meant he didn’t need to stretch his entire body. Which meant that he didn’t need to wear the type of  training clothes everyone else was wearing.

Ah.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he instead decided to focus on the fact that nobody else seemed to care that there were literally extremely sharp objects hurtling themselves at a target, and Lance felt they were being rather rude to ignore him like that.

“Hey” he was poked in the rib and turning, he saw Hunk smiling down at him knowingly.

“Yeah, everyone always gets a bit awed when they see Keith in action for the first time. Heh, you should see him when he starts to eat fire.”

_Fire?!_

_Keep your calm Lance,_ he chided. Instead, he replied: “They didn’t have any fire eaters at my last gig.”

“Well, obviously, they were wildly inferior to us then.” Pidge came up behind them, sporting a sarcastic tone, though her face remained completely poker faced. “Where was your old gig, anyway?”

Lance felt a swooping feel in his stomach. “Ugh..” _think of something! Anything! Make an excuse!_ He put on a grinning face, “Does that even matter now? I mean; I’m here at Altea now, somewhere with fire eaters and a better colour scheme if you ask me. Let’s just enjoy the company of each other that we’ve built.”

Hunk looked at him a little strange, but Pidge herself bought the hasty excuse.

“Built?” She scoffed, “I’ve known you for about 2 days.”

“But you loooooooove me” He crooned, and in reply was hit playfully on the head, before Pidge mumbled something about “finding a box big enough to hide in forever” and padding away.

Hunk smiled at her, then resumed his questioning look at lance.

“What was that about, huh buddy?”

Lance sighed internally. He was stupid to think he could get past Hunk. “Nothing, I just.. I don’t like talking about my old gig very much.”

“Why? Did they hurt you or something?”

“Listen man, I swear one day I’ll tell you everything, but just..not right now, okay?”

Hunk paused and looked at Lance seriously. “Are you in any sort of trouble? Is that why you practically disappeared the last year?”

“I’m not in trouble buddy, don’t worry. But I just don’t wanna think about it. At least, not right now, that alright?”

Hunk nodded, pursing his lips slightly. “Okay man. Just..you can talk to me. I know it’s been a while, but I meant what I said back in middle school. Best bros forever, right?”

At that, Lance laughed slightly. Trust Hunk to remember that. “Best bros forever.”

Hunk’s face brightened slightly, though there was still the shadow of worry lingering. I gotta go warm up for the show tonight. You performing?”

“Don’t think so. I’m down and all, but I don’t have a peice prepared and I dunno if Allura is up to hasty choreographing. This is all a bit sudden honestly.”

“Ah, that’s too bad. Well, hopefully you can figure out a routine soon enough for tonight, but if not, it’s going to be cool seeing you on the ropes again.” With that, Hunk said his goodbyes and walked over to his designated spot- the strong man’s square.

Lance walked over towards the silks and the trapezes, and began to stretch.

* * *

“This is risky.”

“We fly around doing cartwheels in the air for the entertainment of strangers! Everything we do is risky!”

“We haven’t had long enough to properly _prepare_ , Lance. Something could go wrong  and you could get _hurt_ -”

“Allura.” He looked at her straight in the eye. “If you genuinely feel unconfident doing this, then we’ll wait until we’ve prepared more. But, if this is about me, then rest assured, this is _fine_ . My-” His breath hitched a bit. “My old place would make me perform in _much_ harsher conditions. We have the choreography down, we _know_ what we’re doing. _We can do this._ ”

She pursed her lips. “...You sure?”

“ _Yes_.”

She sighed. “Right then, let’s go tell Coran and father. Looks like you’re performing after all.”

Whooping, he followed her as she walked out of the dressing room to go find the ringmaster and owner.

* * *

To describe his costume in any way but _gorgeous_ , would be a crime, in Lance’s humble opinion. Somehow the seamstresses knew that Lance adored all things blue, and his costume was all black, with about a hundred different shades of blue swirls curving up and down the body suit. It had just the right amount of glitz and glam, sparkling white and baby blue diamond shapes jewels layered across his body.

It was _perfect._

Allura stood next to him, hair and makeup done to perfection, wearing a similar costume, only hers was decorated with pastel pink and white. Her costume, like lance’s, came with holes for their fingers to go into for extra support, as well as it curving underneath their feet for added grip.

They were standing in the big top’s high left wing, watching as Coran introduced the show. The seats were littered with nameless faces and their kids, all watching with bright eyes, anticipation evident. And, as Coran introduced each act, he finally got onto introducing the Trapeze acts.  “First up, you know her, you love her, she’s the Ever-Amazing Allura, the trapeze extraordinaire!”, and Allura shot him a smile before stepping out of the wing’s and into the stage where she waved at the crowd who cheered and clapped dutifully.

“And, introducing our newest member of our homely circus, please, show your love for  the wonderfully talented, wickedly superb Lance!”

He stepped out and was promptly greeted by cheering voices and clapping, as he waved alongside Allura, taking in the shear capacity of the Big Top. The lights made it so that he couldn’t really see any of the people, but _damn_ could he hear them.

It was so much warmer and nicer than before, and he was just so _happy_.

And soon he was going back to the wings, introduction having been finished up, and Allura smiled at him. “You ready for this?”

Lance grinned. “Never been more prepared.”

* * *

A man in a dark purple suit was watching them as they introduced themselves. Soon as it was done, he quietly excused himself, not bothering to see the rest of the show. He had seen all he had wanted to anyway.

He waited from the outside of the tent, and placed his call. A faint click signaled it had gone through, before the voice of a man saying. “Well?”

 _No greeting then,_ the man thought to himself. Typical.

“The rumours are true.” Sendak muttered. “The boy- Lance- he’s here.”

He could feel the man on the other side of the phone smile to himself, though he knew there was no happiness in it. “Good.”

“What do you suggest we do?”

The man on the other side of the phone call was quiet for a second before saying. “Let him have his fun for tonight. A young boy like him, he’s probably excited to be in his new little gang. Let him feel like he’s safe.” The man chuckled, venom dripping off each sound he made. “Soon, he’ll get what’s coming to him. Soon, Lance McClain will pay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *laughs evilly*


	5. Flight and Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance find something out about each other.
> 
> In a bid to save the circus, they take a gamble- one that might not pay off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh 
> 
> Hi yes I KNOW it's been almost a MONTH you have no idea how guilty I feel about that. Don't wanna be *that* person, but life hasn't been so great. But it's done! The chapter, (probably the longest amount I've written) is a real big rollercoaster. Also, I'm...really unsatisfied with this chapter? But ahahahhaah I'm posting it anyway- who knows I may edit it soon enough.
> 
> Anyways, enough of my self-doubt. 
> 
> Thankyou??? So much??? For all your constant support? I literally don't deserve it what the heck you guys are so darn NICE.  
> I seriously appreciate it so damn much, you guys really don't know how much it means to me gAH.
> 
> Anyway's enough of the darn author and her notes.  
> Chat with me on my [Tumblr](https://notevennightshade.tumblr.com/). (Seriously, I don't bite lmao.)

It happened about a month and a half after Lance joined. In between acts, a knife thrower stood, arms crossed, worry and agitation planted across his face. “It was him, Shiro! I’m sure of it!” Keith’s voice rang out, shrill and blunt.

“Keith...Are you _certain,_ I mean-”

“Shiro, it couldn’t have been anyone else!”

“But you left them almost 2 years ago. Why are they back now?”

“I-” Keith faltered. “I don’t know. But Shiro, you gotta believe me, it was him, they’re back _again_ . I couldn’t concentrate the entire time I was being introduced, he was there at the back in the corner! They came again about a month ago and I thought it was probably just stress or whatever that time but they’re back _again!_ This can’t be a coincidence! Listen- just, when you go on for your act with Matt, look at the seating plan, and it’ll prove to you that I’m not lying. They’re...they’ve...they’ve come for me.”

“Maybe it’s not you they’re here for?” Shiro suggested.

At that, Keith snorted slightly, his eyebrows raising. “Who else could they possibly be here for?

* * *

 “Lance!”

Coran’s voice sprang out at him, causing him to turn around and almost drop his make-up wipe. “Have you seen Shiro at all?” He stood, poking his head through his dressing room door, looking slightly disheveled.

“Uh, don’t think so, why?”

“He’s on in ten minutes!”

At that, Lance raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure he’s not in his dressing room? Or practicing with Matt?”

He was referring to Matt Holt, Shiro’s partner both in the circus and out, older brother to Pidge and one of the quickest minds he had ever met. Truth be told, Lance had been kinda intimidated by his presence, that is until Matt turned out to be a meme _machine_ , much to his delight.

Matt and Lance had become good friends after that.

But now, Coran was shaking his head, looking ever so slightly put out. “I’ve tried that. Listen- I’ve got to go search some more, but thanks anyway.”

“Wait,” He spoke before his mind could process what he was saying. “I’ve already done my performance, maybe  I can help you look if you want?”

“Really?” Coran seemed to light up at that. “Brilliant! You search the right wing, and I’ll search the left. Those are the only places I haven’t managed to get to yet.”

“Sure thing.” He stood up, setting the rest of his makeup down beside him and followed Coran out of the room.

“Thanks m’boy, I  owe you one!” And with that, Coran sped off, in search of Shiro.

* * *

 

Lance had tried everything and was beginning to lose his mind.

Not only did he wound up getting lost, he also happened to barge in on enough random crew and cast members to last him a lifetime. So when he heard voices, _Shiro’s voice_ at the end of the last hall, he let out an inward yell of elevation and sped off to find the source.

He faltered rather abruptly as he heard the conversation.

“They’re...they’ve...they’ve come for me.” This was obviously Keith's voice, harsh tones slicing through the previous silence Lance had been surrounded in. But his tone was tense, and scared, as if something was very, very wrong.

“Maybe it’s not you they’re here for?” Shiro’s voice suggested.

At that, Lance heard Keith snort slightly, and mutter. “Who else could they possibly be here for? No one else has worked for them, Shiro. No one else has worked for the _Galra_.”

Lance felt every inch of colour drain from his face. _No._

Shiro was there again, obviously trying to calm Keith down. “Keith, you couldn’t have known who they were or what they did to people. You were young, and as soon as you could you left them. Stop beating yourself up over something that happened _two years ago_.”

Two years...just before Lance had joined himself.

Before he knew what he was doing, he flung himself into the room, much to the surprise of the two brothers. “Shiro!” He said wildly. “You’re- Coran is looking- And you need to-”.

“Calm down Lance, what- what’s going on?” Shiro was immediately at his side.

“ _You have like, a minute before you’re on.”_

Shiro’s face changed from worry for Lance, to horror. Letting out a string of curses, he left the room, running to get on stage in time.

Now it was just him and Keith.

Over time, his relationship had become even more confusing with him. Keith just, didn’t seem to like him, and Lance had been quick to replicate those feelings. If Keith wanted to be the big man and hate him for no reason, then Lance sure as hell wasn’t going to be nice back.

Keith wore an all black suit, with lines and lines of red circling across his body, the occasional glint of a jewel showing itself when he passed through a light. It was delicate and simple, not sexy, rather, genuinely pretty.

And if it had been any other time, he would be chiding himself for thinking that _Keith_ could be described as _pretty._

But he couldn’t focus on anything else. Heart beating madly, he turned on Keith, and whispered; “Who did you see?”

Keith stared back at him, eyes narrowing slightly as he frowned in suspicion. “What? Why do you even care?”

There wasn’t any _time_ for this goddamnit!

“Keith stop fucking around and answer me.” Before Keith could bite out a response, he continued. His breath hitched slightly. “Was it Galra?”

It was barely more than a whisper, but Keith’s eyes widened, his expression changing to something that registered as confusion and shock. “How did you- How do you-”

_This couldn’t be happening. Not again._

He could feel himself begin to hyperventilate slightly, but then he felt two hands on his shoulder planted firmly. He looked right at Keith’s eyes, noting that they were _purple_.

“What do you know.” His eyes were intense, and his grip was strong, but Lance couldn’t focus properly. Keith used to work for the Galra, like him.

“I-” Lance faltered slightly. He couldn’t say it, didn’t _want_ to admit it.

Just as he opened his mouth, Keith murmured; “You worked for them.”

It was a statement, rather than a question, one of which Lance had been attempting to hide from for so long now. He hated admitting it, hated thinking about them or that _place_. They were a cruel folk, hiding behind smiling faces and squeaky clean records.

Only those who worked there knew how awful it really was.

“I didn’t know it was-”

“That’s why they’re here” Keith unlodged his hands off of Lance and sat heavily on the desk behind them, completely ignoring Lance’s statement. He held his head in his hands, seemingly muttering to himself, without any sort of acknowledgment of Lance at all.

“Keith I-”

“They’re back, and you worked for them.”

“Keith, _please,_ just listen to me-”

“ _You worked for them?”_ He lifted his hands from his head and looked right at Lance, looking nothing short of broken.

Lance felt something like tears begin to form. “I didn’t _mean_ to.” he choked out.

Keith looked so angry, so frustrated, as if he were to hit him.

And suddenly Keith was hugging him.

Lance let out a breath of surprise, not at all sure how to react. Wasn’t Keith mad at him? Why was he _hugging_ him?

“Are you okay?” Keith looked so fucking _sad_ . “Lance, what did they- what did they _do_.”

“Keith- what the…?”

“How long did were you there?”

Lance chewed his lip slightly. “About a year.” He muttered quietly.

Keith winced and turned away from Lance. Then-

“18 months.”

“What?”

“I was there.” He turned back to look at Lance. “I worked there for about 18 months. You probably joined them just as I left.”

“...Oh.”

“Who knows?”

“Nobody. Well, Hunk sure as hell suspects something, won’t stop going on about it honestly, and obviously, Coran and Alfor know, but I haven’t told anyone else.” Taking a leap, Lance asked; “You?”

“My brother, and Coran and Alfor. Nobody else.”

“Oh, okay.”

They let Keith’s reply fizzle into the open air before becoming uncomfortable silence once more.

Lance swallowed. “Keith- who do you keep seeing? How often have you seen them here?”

“About 6 times, but it could be more, and I’m just not seeing them. Sometimes it’s just some cronies, sometimes it’s not. But lately, I keep seeing Sendak, or Lotor.”

It was a like a blow to the stomach.Lotor- The Prince, as he was often referred to, had planted his own unpleasant memories for Lance. Forcing himself to speak, he said; “You think they’re here for me?”

It was quiet after that. Lance could tell Keith was thinking on his feet, attempting to calm Lance down but not seeing _how._ Then, finally, he murmured. “It’s a possibility.”

Lance nodded. “So...what now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You of all people know what I mean when I say that people like them won’t go away until either they’re satisfied, or we put them in their place. Now that I know they’re there, now that _you_ know where I came from, we can work together...and maybe get rid of them.”

“Who says I’ll help you?”

Lance crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “I do. I don’t care if you hate me, this is serious. And the entire circus will suffer unless we stop this. Things are only going to get worse.” He took a shuddering breath and continued. “We don’t know what they want, with me, or maybe even with you. And I know for a fact you’d rather stop them and work with me then watch your circus suffer.”

Keith’s face was unreadable. “I don’t hate you.”

At that, Lance snorted. “Could’ve fooled me.”

“I’m just...I’m not good with people, and- it doesn’t matter. Are we telling anyone about this?”

“You’ve been here longer than me. You think we can, I’ll do it. You don’t, we won’t.”

Keith seemed to like that reply, but murmured; “I don’t want anyone else getting involved.”

“Not even Shiro?”

“ _Especially_ not Shiro.”

Lance raised his eyebrows. “Uh...why?”

“He already worries about me too much. He wouldn’t let me do this- whatever it is that we’re about to do, and he’d just start freaking out.” Keith paused, closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. “Nobody can know about this.”

“Okay, fine. You have a piece of paper and a pen?”

“Why?”

“So I can write down my number.”

“Oh...right, yeah”

He dug around the room and soon found what he was looking for.

Scribbling his information down, he said to Keith: “You’re not on until the second act, but when you are, check to see if Sendak’s still there. And call me when you can. We’ll talk about this more then.”

“You think we can do this? Stop whatever they’re planning?”

Lance placed the paper into Keith’s hand. “For the sake of this Circus, we have too.”

* * *

 

After that, Keith had quite clearly warmed up to Lance. So much so that Pidge started teasing him whenever Keith left the room, a mixture of various eyebrow wiggles and kissing noises that were seriously questioning Lance’s morals as to whether or not he could get away with murder.

Because he didn’t _like_ Keith- not like that. Obviously.

 _Sure_ , credit is due where credit is due, and it would be wrong to call him unattractive, what with his sharp purple (purple!!!) eyes, pale skin, and gorgeous dark hair (looking _past_ the mullet.)

But yeah, Lance didn’t like him. Not like _that._

Even Shiro started to notice, looking mildly baffled every time Keith would stand up halfway through training and go mutter at Lance.

And, when everyone else would go home after a performance, or a rehearsal, Keith would go home with Shiro, but come to Lance’s in the late hours of the night, behind his brother’s back. And there they would work, bringing up files from their time spent working for the Galra, videos of them performing, news articles regarding Sendak or other high representatives of Galra. They would spend days and days and _weeks_ talking about the corrupted system, the illegal smuggling; and worst of all, the _punishments_. Punishments that a cast member would have to fulfill or risk being fired and left on the streets, with the circus tampering with their records so that their resume was left ruined.

And yet, they never came to any sort of conclusion.

“This is getting ridiculous.” Lance sighed, closing his laptop. “There’s no evidence of anything shady from them on the internet. And we don’t have any motives.”

“Other than wanting to punish us for leaving them?”

Lance turned to Keith who was busy typing away, immersed in finding something, _anything_ , to gain leverage over Galra. “Would they really borderline stalk us...because we left them?”

Keith raised an eyebrow at Lance. “Did you really leave them on the best terms?”

At that, Lance winced. “Not really.”

“Exactly. I’m betting that anyone’s who’s ever left them has had a real hard job of leaving that hell hole. Once you’ve signed the contracts, they’ll manipulate the shit out of you, and won’t stop until they’ve taught you a lesson.”

“You speak as if from experience.”

“Yeah well…” Keith stopped typing and looked at his hands. “They weren’t kind to me- or my brother.”

“Shiro worked for them?! Why isn’t he here with us?”

“He never worked for them.”Keith turned around and stared intently into Lance’s eyes. “He was the one who got me out  of that place, when things got dark- darker than they already were.” He looked down, then back at his laptop. “I owe him a lot,” he said quietly.

Lance didn’t press the subject further, knowing that Keith probably didn’t want to discuss it. Instead, he said. “If we don’t even know what they’re doing, how do we even stop them?”

“...I don’t know. But we need to be ready, be alert. _Something_ is going to happen, and soon. And I think it might be to do with the circus.”

“Well, the way _I_ see it, working together, we have a lot more leverage than working alone. So much so that if they strike-”

“ _When_ they strike.”

“Right- _when_ they strike, we’ll be ready.” He closed his eyes for a second, then looked right at Keith, who was staring back at him. “I’m not going to let them win, not this time.”

 

It happened a week later.

Of course, rumours had erupted and had been circling the circus for the week prior to the announcement, but nothing had been _confirmed_ until Coran and Alfor called a meeting for everyone in the circus, expressions grim.

A new circus was in town, one that had garnered a lot of attention, and was overtaking Altea by a long shot.

Galra Circus.

“This is insane! They’ve booked almost every single date same as us!” Keith threw his hands up into the air in frustration. Lance and Keith had decided to retire to Lance’s house (much to the evident surprise of Shiro), and talk.

“It’s a challenge,” Lance said. “They know we know that they’re here. They want to see what are next move will be.”

“We might not _have_ any next moves if they keep doing this!”

“Then we have to do something, something wild and unexpected, that will draw in the audience, hell, it will draw in the Galra, where we can take them down.”

“Something that will save the circus, and drive the Galra away?”

“Pretty much.”

“What do you have in mind?”

Lance shifted uncomfortably. “When I joined Galra Circus, they were short of a knife thrower, which I’m guessing is your fault, as well as not having a lot of Trapeze artists. Soon enough, I became one of the two trapeze artists they had, and the only one who would perform on a day to day basis-.” His voice hitched slightly. “Without a net.”

Keith immediately tensed, but Lance continued.

“It’s not something I’m proud of. It was stupid, ridiculous, and at the end of my job with them, I had to start jumping 60ft twice a day and rely on luck that I didn’t fall. Performing without a safety net was something I _hated_ \- but- it got us _a lot_ of attention.”

Keith looked incredulous. “You can’t seriously be suggesting-”

“If it'll save the circus, then why not? I’ll only do a couple months or something, just enough so that we get our audience back, and that the Galra leave us alone, and Allura definitely won’t be allowed to participate in them, but-”

“Do you not _see_ how risky it’ll be?”

“What other choice do we have?”

“Anything but this! Lance-” He strode across the room, standing right in front of him, anger and frustration plastered across his face. “I don’t care if you want to save the circus- you could _die._ ”

Lance winced. “I performed there for a year. 7 Months of that year included performing twice a day _without a net._ If I could do it then, I can do it now.”

Keith looked down. “You’re insane.”

“Maybe. But…” He softly placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder, and reluctantly, Keith looked back up at him. “I don’t want the circus to go out of business because of my mistakes. Sometimes what we want isn’t necessarily what we get.”

In the past few weeks, Lance and Keith had evolved from hating each other to good, good friends. They trusted each other and Keith found himself sighing at Lance’s words, but not disagreeing to them.

“Promise me you’ll be safe.”

Lance cracked a doleful smile. “I promise, buddy.”

* * *

 “Absolutely not!”

Alfor’s voice rang out in the little office, and Lance and Keith couldn’t help but wince slightly.

“To suggest, to even _think_ -”

“It will save the circus! Something that we _need_ to do!”

Coran looked at both boys sympathetically, “Maybe so, but we aren’t going to result to that just so we can win audiences over.”

“I’ve done it before! Many times!”

“And that’s an awful, very sad thing that you had been forced into doing, but we’re not going to allow you to do this. Not only that, you want-” Coran turned to Keith. “You want to perform simultaneously?”

Keith stood up. “Yes. And Lance and I are more than capable of doing it! You know we used to work for the Galra- and you know that they’re not going to stop until we _make_ them stop. We are _more_ than capable of doing this, and it’s the only thing that’ll save the circus!”

Alfor looked at the ringmaster. “...We’ll think about it.” He said, finally.

Lance couldn’t help but grin. He turned to Keith, who wore a similar expression to him.

They were going to save the circus.

* * *

 

It was decided, after many discussions, heated arguments only to be solved by Hunk and some helpfully placed cupcakes, and compromises, that Lance McClain would fly high over the crowds of Altea Circus without the safety of a net, for 3 weeks only, all the whilst Keith Kogane, fire eater and knife thrower, would perform death-defying tricks below him. A truly spectacular act, one that was not worth missing, and one that garnered a lot of attention.

Allura was not pleased, to put it politely. Nor Shiro, who demanded to talk to his brother “ _Alone_ ” after he was informed. So they lectured the boys in separate rooms, forming rather similar conversations.

“You’re insane!” Shiro exclaimed, running his hand through his hair. _Patience yields focus my ass, this boy is going to be the death of me._

“I’m saving the circus!” Keith replied, pleading with Shiro to understand.

“What if you get hurt?” Allura’s voice rang shrill and unnerving, anger lacing through each and every word.

“I _won’t,_ ” Lance said gently. “Allura, I’ll be fine- I promise.”

* * *

 

It was the final show of the _theatrical three_ , as they were being called. Being the last act of the show, all the cast members had decided to watch him perform today, whilst Keith stood at the bottom. Shows were being sold out, and soon, the Galra circus was barely getting half crowds. It was sleazy and perhaps not the best kind of _Circus-Sportsmanship_ , but this was Lance’s choice, and it was saving the circus.

Everyone wanted to see The Boy Who Could Fly.

And yet…

Something was wrong. Lance could feel it in his gut as he stepped on stage, plastering a smile on his face, waving to the roaring crowds. Looking over at Keith, he noted how though he stood at the bottom of the big top stage, waving as well, fear not evident across his face, he was tense and rigid. Keith knew something was off as well.

But there was no time for that. No time for them to stop and figure out what was going on.

He took a deep breath and launched forward onto one of the trapezes, and another, and another. Ignoring the feeling that the Trapezes seemed slightly unsteady, he concentrated on finishing the act. Soon he began to flip upside down, and he swore he felt the entire trapeze _shift_ slightly, as if it were about to break. Convincing himself it was just nerves, he attempted to look into the crowd and smile, normally encouraged by their warm smiles.

His heart lurched.

Sendak and Lotor, sat in the center middle of the audience, looking as they were waiting for something. They had cruel grins, and Lance realised far too late why.

They were quite clearly holding screws in their lap.

Screws...that belonged to the trapeze!

The trapeze was going to break, and there was no net to catch him!

He let out a yell as he flew onto the next trapeze, praying to any kind of higher power that there was that it wouldn’t break.

Instead of supporting his weight, the trapeze let out a tired groan, and the remaining screws fell away. As if in slow motion, bits and pieces of the trapeze came apart.

The trapeze fell.

And Lance, too shocked to even let out a scream, fell with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, a cliffhanger. Whoops.


	6. Aftermaths and...realisations?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of a rather dramatic evening.
> 
> ft: A Very Angry Shiro™.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hi sorry this is almost a MONTH LATE 
> 
> I just barely ever have TIME(I'm working on 5 other fics, 3 of which I haven't even uploaded yet, so it gets it bit harrrrrrd)
> 
> Anyways, I reaaaally didn't want this fic to be all angsty and all, and I KNOW that last chapter was v angsty, so enjoy my feeble attempt at humour and some fluffy fluff.
> 
> Just to reiterate: This fic is not going to be very angsty, unless it's the major major parts of the fic. If you guys want angst from me, then check out one of my other works.

Lance was not having a good day.

First, he finds out that members of the Galra are visiting him more than usual. _Then,_ rent is suddenly due and the price has practically doubled (he blames the government).

Oh, and he fell to his death from a faulty trapeze due to a rival circus hell-bent on apparently _killing him._

That too.

Now obviously, dear reader, he is more or less alive, in a rather spicy twist, full of dramatics, Keith noticed the scene unfolding  and managed to somehow _catch him,_ all the whilst Lance ignored the copious amount of pain seeping its way into his arm and back and smiling at the slightly horrified audience, as if to say that _this was the plan the entire time!_ Most of the trapeze hadn’t ended up falling alongside him, only his holding bar and a couple screws from here and there.

Surprisingly, somehow the crowd bought it.

And so, whilst Keith put him down and he stood up, both smiling widely and waving at the roaring standing ovation they were getting, Coran hastily made an end of performance speech about “true, death-defying performers!” and making sure _everyone knew_ that they had planned this “right from the start, no need to be worried, folks!”. As he was led back into backstage, he noticed the black spots begin to dance around in his vision before finally, _finally_ , reaching backstage where what seemed like most of the cast and even Alfor stood anxiously. He barely had time to mutter deliciously; “They removed some screws” before succumbing to the darkness around him.

He woke up a few hours later, huddled in a hospital bed with Shiro, Pidge, Allura, Hunk, and Keith surrounding him. They were in the middle of a heated discussion, it seemed.

“--Listening to yourself?”

“All I’m saying is that he may be in trouble and the police are the _best option_ -”

“The police don’t help, Shiro! You of all people should know that by now!”

The atmosphere was thick with tension, and Keith looked down, embarrassed. “I’m sorry- I didn’t mean-”

Shiro held up a hand, stopping him from continuing. “It’s fine.” He turned to the rest of the people stood in the room. “Whether or not we get any sort of higher power involved is ultimately up to Lance himself. For now, we just have to wait and see.”

Lance’s brain- likely high on morphine or some other pain-numbing medication- spoke with no filter. “You guys bitchin ‘about me?” He giggled as they all turned at the voice, surprised. “That’s not nice, my dudes.”

“Lance!” Hunk was by his side in an instant. “Are you okay man? Where does it hurt- should we-” he turned wildly at the others “should we get a nurse?”

Pidge volunteered, sneaking out of the room, and Lance screeched: “Bye Pidge Podge!”

“He’s delirious,” Keith muttered to his brother. Shiro nodded and crouched over at Lance’s bedside, much to Lance’s pleasant amusement. “You okay, buddy?” Shiro said gently.

“ ‘m fine Shiro!” With drunken movements, he placed his good arm- his left- onto Shiro’s hand and squeezed it, much to Shiro’s bafflement. “I’m the finest of them all. I’ve won _beauty contests_ with how fine I am. Geddit.” He giggled and noted Keith’s groan from the back. “I’m so fine I could probably woo Keith.” He looked Shiro directly in the eye. “Mr. Shiro sir, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I’m going to woo a mullet with my good looks, watch this.”

Keith stared up at him, confusion written across his face.

Lance knew this was the perfect opportunity to sing _A Whole New World_ from _Aladdin._ In between that, he saw that Keith didn’t seem to be singing with him, so he stopped, and spluttered: “Keith you _bitch_ , why aren’t you singing the harmonies?”

Keith looked unsure of how to reply, so Lance decided, being the nice guy that he was, to help him out, by stage-whispering. “If I’m going to prove my fine looks to everyone, I need to successfully woo you.”

Keith still looked confused. “Uh- Lance, you don’t know what you’re saying-”

“ _Are you going to make me look ugly in front of the others?_ ”

“What? Lance, I-”

Just then, a doctor opened the door, alongside her Pidge. “Ah, Lance- it’s good to see you. Now that you’re awake, we can discuss what predicament you’ve put yourself in.”

Lance crossed his arms, ignoring the doctor and staring directly at Keith. “You and I are going to have to discuss this later, McMullet.”

* * *

 Two days later, he was out of the hospital and resting at his apartment, very much _without_ any pain numbing-delirious medication.

When he had been initially told that he was _truly a miracle_ , and _should thank his lucky stars that he had only broken an arm_ , he had still ben pretty out of it to react properly.

So, now, with Allura, Hunk and Pidge all sprawled across his sofa, he could let the information fully sink in.“ _What?_ ”

Allura sighed. “I’m sorry Lance, but it’s not like I have a say in the matter. This was exactly why I didn’t want you performing without a net, and now you _have_ to take a break.”

Lance grumbled under his breath.

Pidge took this as the _perfect_ opportunity to say to Lance: “I mean, maybe you can focus on your crush on Keith in your break.”

Lance's heart swooped, and he felt himself blushing red as he yelled indignantly: “I don’t have a crush on- The fact that you would even _think_ \- as if I could even- _I don’t have a crush on Keith.”_

Pidge cackled, turning to Allura and Hunk. “I don’t think he remembers, guys.”

“What don’t I remember? _Pidge, what don’t I remember.”_

Allura smirked slightly. “How about you fill him in on it then?”

“Fill me in on what?”

“When you were in the hospital, you had to go on pain meds for a bit.” Pidge wore a Cheshire-cat like grin. “And during which, you were very adamant on _wooing Keith._ ”

Lance felt his blush deepen, and groaned, before putting his head in his hand. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Nope!” Pidge said. “You called him ‘McMullet’ and tried to sing him _Aladdin_.”

Lance personally called upon whatever higher power there was to end him now. “Well, this is just _perfect._ How the hell am I ever gonna speak to him again?”

“Wait- so you _do_ like him?” Hunk sounded genuinely curious.

“What? No!” Lance spluttered, “I was high on whatever the hell they put in my system, I can’t even remember what I did!”

“You sang him a song, Lance,” Pidge said, deadpanned. “And then you called him a bitch because he wasn’t singing any of the harmonies with you.”

“Shut up! I don’t wanna hear anything else!”

Allura was laughing so hard her breath was coming in choked gasps. “You _sure_ you don’t feel anything?”

“I don’t have a crush on Keith! I don’t! It’s just embarrassing no matter who you’re doing it too!”

Hunk raised his eyebrow, smile dancing across his face. “Sure man, whatever you say.”

Allura looked at her time, before standing up, gesturing to the others. “Well, we gotta go to rehearsal for a bit. But you should rest. Come visit us in a couple days, when you’re doing slightly better.”

Much as he wanted to disagree and insist on him coming, he was a simple man, one who knew not to mess with Allura _no matter what_ , so he agreed and saw them out.

When they were gone, he thought back to Pidge’s comments about what he had done to Keith and felt a weird feeling erupt in his stomach.

_Oh my God._ He thought. _Do I have a crush on Keith?_

* * *

Keith had mildly sprained his wrist catching Lance, and had to keep off it a couple days, preferably a week. He decided to take his newly found break researching _how to get away with murdering people from your old job_. So far nothing had come up quite yet.

Keith sighed, for what seemed like the hundredth time. He thought back to the latest discussion he had had with his brother. Soon as Lance had been deemed okay and was going to make a full recovery, they traveled back home. Once they had, Shiro had stared him directly in the eye, flat expression, and severe tone, simply saying: “Explain.”

So, Keith had. And, unsurprisingly, Shiro had been silent for a couple hours, merely clenching and unclenching his robotic arm, a common gesture he had picked up since he had first had his arm amputated, saying “I see.”

Keith, having lived with Shiro for as long as he wanted to remember, knew that Shiro was impossibly angry, but was merely attempting to keep a calm facade in front of his little brother.

But, this also meant that he was bound to burst anytime soon and begin the lecture of a lifetime, something of which he was _really not looking forward to._

And, sure enough, when Keith tentatively asked him a couple hours later whether or not he wanted soup and Shiro replied: “I don’t know if I can be _trusted_ with something as sacred as your _soup_.” He knew it was going to begin.

Keith pursed his lips. “Why the sass, Shiro?”

Shiro continued to read his book. “Oh, there’s no sass. I’m just assuming that considering I’m not trusted to know when my little brother is in trouble as well as our friend, I shouldn’t be trusted to make your soup choices.”

“Shiro,” Keith said. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

“Nothing! Aside from the fact that you could’ve easily gotten hurt, it’s frankly a _miracle_ Lance only broke his arm, and you didn’t even _think_ of telling me that this was all going on, even though I thought you had _promised me_  you wouldn't keep something like this  secret from me like you did last time.” Shiro said. “But apart from that, I’m fine!”

“Shiro.” Keith began. “I didn’t want to worry you-”

“Worry me? You have any idea how worried I was when I watched Lance almost die? When you got hurt? You could've _worried me_ before, and then maybe Lance and you wouldn't have had to go to the hospital!”

“Shi-”

“Do you not trust me? Is that what this is?”

“Shir-”

“Your brother, your own blood, you don’t trust? What have I ever done to you?”

“For the love of-”

“And now, _now_ , everyone’s going to be all sympathetic to me- ask me if you’re alright. What do you want me to tell them, huh?”

“Tell them that I was scared- no, terrified, and didn’t know what to do!” Keith’s reply was short, but it definitely made Shiro stop his yelling.

Keith continued. “Or maybe, you should tell them that they had been silently borderline stalking Lance for _weeks_ and it terrified Lance and all of our _friends_ never even noticed it.”

“Keith-”

“You lost an arm to them, Shiro! You have buckets of PTSD because of those freaks, you-you risked your life for me but you got _hurt_...I didn’t want to hurt you again.” Keith said, softly.

Shiro frowned, a little sadly. “I know you had the best intentions. But- you have to trust me, Keith. You have to trust that we’d be able to work together- like we always do.”

Keith looked down. “I’m sorry.”

And all of a sudden, Shiro had enveloped Keith in a bear hug, still careful of his hand, because _of course he would be_. “Don’t be.” He said. “But from here on out, we work together, alright?”

Keith nodded. They would work together.

* * *

And so, this was how he got into his current situation, scrolling aimlessly through Tumblr as his brother bid him goodbye, stepping out for practice.

He hadn’t spoken to Lance since the incident.

Of course, he hadn’t counted the hospital, because frankly, Lance had been delirious, and most likely did not remember what he had said or done.

Keith blushed at the memory.

Wait, why the hell was he blushing?

It was a delirious mistake. It wasn’t as if Lance had _meant_ any of it.

There was a slight pang in his stomach- disappointment.

Why the hell was he disappointed?

Lance was a friend, _just_ a friend.

With amazing blue eyes that shone like the ocean. And he was one of those genuinely _nice_ people, with a snarky humour and light-hearted attitude. But Lance still knew when it was time to be serious when it was time to put away the humour and transform into this serious young man Keith knew he didn't show to everyone.

In a way, Keith felt somewhat privileged that he was one of those few to see Lance transform like this. He wasn't even completely certain Lance himself knew what a transformation it was, and in a weird way, that made it all the more impressive.

Oh, and if Keith was going to be blunt, his skin was smooth, _so smooth._ It was ridden of any acne or blemish, naturally shining in the stage lights as he flew from one trapeze to another. When he was flipping on the trapeze, and his body flew so perfectly, he was gorgeous. He was gorgeous. He was-

 

_Oh my God._ He thought, heart quickening. _Do I have a crush on Lance?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the support, and for sticking with me and my erratic uploads. It means so, so much to me.
> 
> Comments are what inspires me to write, but thankyou for even reading this fic. Hopefully, the wait won't be so long next time. Until then, enjoy this, and maybe check out my other works, or hit me up on [Tumblr](https://notevennightshade.tumblr.com/) I would love to chat with you guys.


	7. A day at the library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith feel slightly bored now that they're recovering from their injuries- what else could they do, but go to the library?  
> Keith is adamant about not crushing on Lance.  
> Lance isn't so adamant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic hasn't got enough fluff. It's time I changed that.

Scratch that. He did not have a crush on Lance.

The boy was way too annoying, always somehow buzzing with blithe energy, ignoring his broken arm and zooming all over the library, and Keith was beginning to lose his mind.

How, how- could one person be so loud? How could someone be so oblivious to the stares and whispers, smirks and glances that passer-buyers would surely be making whenever Lance was in the Vicinity? Lance was just so...so out there.

And Keith wasn’t.

Thoughts of Lance flitted through Keith’s mind, not as an idle thought, but almost as a noise. Pure volume. When in conversation, a sort of liveliness scampers over his frame: eyes glow, colour seeps into his cheeks and all features smile. Lance words were always punctuated with actions-hand gestures, head-tilts-like staying still is not an option. Like staying still was a weakness.

Earlier last week, they had been sitting in the library, a mountain of books and magazines surrounding them, and as usual, Lance’s words flowed effortlessly, his audience (read: the stressed out university students) seemed clearly captivated by the animated conversation that he alone could somehow manufacture. Keith himself had sat there, silently eating a cookie that tasted of sweet bitterness.

Why were his ears ringing? Did it annoy him that Lance’s voice carried so loud and brought attention to them? Was it with shame that he possessed the social skills of a slug?

Or maybe, it was a dark sliver of jealousy, that people were so much more fascinated by Lance than they ever could have been with himself.

Pushing those thoughts away, he glanced up at Lance, who was currently humming quietly, soft smile drawn over his face as his hands floated between each book, trying to find the right one.

Since everyone was in work, rehearsing for their next performance in a week or two, overtime Lance had begun to pester Keith into meeting up, and surprisingly, Keith had obliged (out of sheer boredom and sympathy, not because Keith liked him, because he didn’t), and they had found themselves overtime gravitating towards one another, gradually finding themselves in the public library, of all places.

Just what they would do there was honestly beyond Keith, who had come to realise that simply being in one another’s presence was more than enough for both of them, it seemed. Lance certainly seemed content with their situation, whining like a child when the library would close up and both of them would have to go back to their apartments. Keith himself felt a small pang of disappointment each time they would leave one another, although he wasn’t quite sure why.

Perhaps both of them just didn’t want to be left alone at their homes, even though Lance had long since decided he was going to move into Hunk’s apartment, after Hunk had suggested it himself (Keith understood that completely, rent is high, y’all) and he could have been preparing to pack and Shiro would come home within an hour or so after Keith being home from the library. So it wasn’t like either of them were going to be alone for a long time, and besides, they could always FaceTime or something.

But somehow, he still didn’t like not being with Lance.

Lost in his own thoughts, he jolted back into the present when he heard an oh so familiar screech of “Keith!!! Keeeeeeeeeeith!!! Come here!! Look!! Look what I found!!”

Ah, Lance.

Sighing slightly, he set his coffee down on the table they had taken refuge at, and made his way over to Lance, all the whilst hushing him slightly.

“What’s the matter, Lance?”

Lance looked at him like an excitable puppy. “Look at this!!! Loooooooooooook!” He thrust a book into Keith’s chest and Keith was honestly confused as to how someone hadn’t thrown them out, with all the noise Lance was making.

“All right, all right, hold your horses.” He took the book, reading the title. “Uh...what am I looking at right now?”

“It’s Percy Jackson, Keith! These books were my childhood! I loved these!”

Keith blinked.

“Don’t tell me you never read Percy Jackson,” Lance said, his smile slipping off his face ever so slightly.

Again, Keith just stared dumbly at Lance. “Uh...not really? I didn’t read much as a kid-”

Lance’s indicant squawk cut him off. “Well, then Mr Mullet Man, what the hell are you even waiting for? C’mon!!!” And, just like that, he scooped the entire series (how many books could he fit with one arm??) into his good arm and with his apparently still free hand, pulled him messily back into the fortress of books and coffee tables they had been sat at, which resulted in Keith accidentally knocking the coffee onto himself (thankfully not onto any of the books, like hell did he have that kinda money to replace it), getting on his coat and his shirt.

Lance was immediately sympathetic, apologising profusely and slipping off his coat, offering it to Keith to wear whilst they slung Keith’s red jacket over a radiator. “Besides,” He had said, “I can’t even wear it properly right now, what with my arm being what it is.” And annoyingly, irritatingly, stupidly, Lance just wouldn’t take no for an answer, insisting that his Cuban roots would keep him warm, whilst Keith’s “Texan blood was no match for the air-conditioned library.”

Did Lance not know he was from Texas...and Korea?

However, after a good ten minutes of clearing everything up, and Keith finally agreeing to wear the jacket, (which was slightly too big on him, the sleeves hanging off of him, curse his inferior height) they both sat down comfortably, and flipping open what Keith could only assume was the first book in the series,Lance began to read.

To him.

And, he would pull all these ridiculous voices, much to Keith’s utter embarrassment, because ohmygod Lance people can hear you, who would then take to shushing Keith whenever he would ponder whether this was a good idea or not, face growing more and more animated by the sentence.

Before he knew it, the library was closing again, and almost 6 hours had passed, with 8 chapters of the first book finished.

Grumbling to himself, Lance walked with him to the bus stop, rucksack slung over his shoulder, and pinky-promised Keith to carry on the series the next day.

Keith had smiled, and said: “If it’ll give us something to do, I’m down.”

They departed, Lance getting his headphones from his bag and waving to Keith as he got on a bus, to go home, waving back.

The entire bus ride home (sprained wrist= no motorbike) Keith felt oddly warm and fuzzy, Lance’s honey-sweet voice placing itself within Keith’s memory, his delicate tones buzzing in his ears.

He sighed to himself and pulled his jacket in closer.

Wait a second…

Keith was still wearing Lance’s jacket.

“Oh..shit..” How had he not even realised that he still had it on? It was too big for him, really- really comfortable, but definitely not his, but it was far too late to give it back to him now, what with Keith almost at his apartment complex anyway.

He would just have to text Lance to apologise, and give it back to him then.

He snuggled into the warm jacket a bit more. He couldn’t do anything about the fact he had Lance’s jacket with him, the only thing he could do was...wear it.

He would just be wearing it to keep the warmth the jacket had acquired.

Not because he liked Lance or anything.

Because he didn’t.

...Right…?

* * *

Lance turned into his room, setting his keys on the table after what could only have been called an all-out battle between opening the door whilst holding about a million things and not upsetting his damn arm.  
(He lost the battle, by the way.)

He unpaced his rucksack, and with a start noticed that Keith’s jacket was tucked inside it, something of which he had quietly done after a few hours of it trying on the radiator. It seemed that Lance had forgotten to give it back to him-- forgotten to get his coat back.

For some reason, a smile tugged at his face, and he wasn’t sure quite why. A fond memory rushed through his head, thinking of Keith wearing his jacket.

He looked pretty cute, and Lance was way too happy about it.

Lance opened his phone, and smiled yet again when he saw that Keith had sent a couple frantic messages saying how much he had apologised for accidentally taking it home with him, and that “I swear tomorrow I’ll give it back to you!”

Lance giggled- he giggled- and sent him a text assuring him that it was really no big deal, and besides, he thought Keith looked cute wearing it anyway.

Wash he shamelessly subtly flirting. Maybe so.

But somehow, Lance didn’t care. Who knows, maybe Keith would blush because of him.

Yeah, Lance soooooo had a crush on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully that was fluffy enough for you guys.
> 
> Thankyou so much for your support as usual guys! And I know this didn't have a lot of **plot**, but I actually...really really like this chapter? There's not a lot of dialogue, which is something I'm not used to doing, but I thought it was a nice chapter nonetheless.  
> Let me know if you liked this chap, and thanks for waiting so patiently and supporting me so much!  
> Oh, and a special shoutout has to go to @UniterestedPotato, who has been commenting since the first chap each and every time, and it seriously means a lot to me-thanks man!!
> 
> Hit up my [Tumblr](https://notevennightshade.tumblr.com/) (@NotEvenNightshade) if you wanna chat about anything :D


	8. Onto the Angst We Go!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith should really tell Lance the news.
> 
> Alfor doesn't want to be cruel, but oh boy, he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you ever see me uploading on a regular schedule- just know I've been kidnapped and replaced by an evil clone with a worse haircut and somehow even angrier attitude.

Keith had been itching for the chance to get back in the training room, but now, after he had finally got discharged by his doctor,(and his physiotherapist) so that he could start training, and eventually, performing, it came as bittersweet.

For some reason, he had become rather fond of his meetings with Lance, even if he did occasionally feel overwhelmed by his personality, which seemed to be constantly high off of adrenaline. (Seriously, what did the guy eat to have that much energy?)

The had mutually decided not to discuss anything about the Galra or their antics. It seemed as if the organisation in question had got their revenge, or whatever the hell they were intending to do, that, or they had completely disappeared off the face of the planet. There were no condescending comments, borderline stalking, mysterious lingering looks from shady figures in the public.

It was...unsettling.

Lance had made it very much evident he didn’t want to speak about them, or the incident that had happened. As soon as his castmates had realised he was okay, they had bombarded him with questions, comments, concerns, and whilst in front of the others he had remained polite and the lovable goofball others called him, he had confided in Keith during one of their trips to the library, entire demeanor changing.

His usually bright attitude had melted away as soon as he had ended the phone call between Allura and Hunk ended, both of them threatening that “they would get answers from Lance...eventually.”

“ _I just don’t get why they can’t just lay off my back_.” He had said, placing his phone on the coffee table with a little bit more force that could have been deemed natural. His entire mood seemed darker, angrier, and it was a side that Keith could say with certainty that Lance had never once shown before. In a way, he felt somehow privileged seeing this transformation, like Lance had confided with him not only with his words but entire personality shifts. “ _I get that they’re worried about me- what happened that day was shitty, I know. But I’ve already said I don’t want them to talk to me about it, I’ve already told them it’s something I don’t want to discuss--” He stopped, finally meeting Keith's intense stare. “I wish they would leave it alone._ ” He said.

Then, much quieter: “ _I wish it never happened._ ”

Keith was unsure of what to say. Never the best with words, he always found it a struggle in his past to give advice or support, usually relying on his brother to give the sympathetic gazes and soft speeches. Trying to emulate Shiro, he said: _“I don’t think they know how much it’s...hurting you, I guess. They’re probably just...shaken, from that night.”_

Lance, rather uncharacteristically, snorted. _“ **They’re** shaken? I’m the one who literally almost died. I would have, as well, if you hadn’t caught me.” _ He seemed to falter slightly, then- _“I never did thank you for that, did I?”_

_“You don’t need to thank me, man- really it was a lucky-”._

_“You saved my life.”_ There had been no emotion in his words, no warmth, or anger at what had happened to him. Pure, solid fact.

Keith, again, was at a loss for words. _“Lance..._ ” His voice trailed off.

Lance stared at him as if finally realising just how close his brush with death was. “ _They tried to kill me, Keith. They...They wanted to **kill me**._ ” He seemed to say it again, perhaps confirming to himself what he already knew deep in his heart, but was much too afraid to actually say.

There was a silence between them, only broken by the dulcet tones of the people in the library who were busy chatting aimlessly, seemingly unaware of Keith and his thundering heartbeat, though Keith remained unsure of how that could be, the blood pounding in his ears made it difficult to hear anything at all, surely everyone else could hear it as well?

Finally, it was Lance who spoke up. _“Does your brother know?”_ He had said, his warm voice a stark contrast to the severity of the conversation they had been having.

Keith stared at him, bemused by the peculiar ask. His first instinct was to lie, but something stopped him. He knew Shiro wouldn’t mind Lance knowing, even if he had shown disdain for other people getting involved in the past.

Lance had gone through almost exactly the same as Keith. He could be trusted.

“Shiro...was the person who helped me out- I mean, helped get me out- of the galra circus.” He swallowed before continuing. “ _When I realised that things weren’t all that great with that place, I felt lost and alone, and I couldn’t really do anything about it. I mean- you know how it is- they threatened me- bad. Various crimes that I didn't commit were now my fault, including tax fraud- and even murder.”_

Lance nodded but didn’t speak, letting Keith carry on.

“ _Shiro was the one who got me out of there after I tried to quit but they didn’t let me. He was never a part of that place, but...they definitely don’t like him.”_

_“What did he do?”_

_“Threatened them back. Found out that this kind of things had happened a lot when young impressionable kids join them. He doesn’t even tell me the details- but whatever he did to them- whatever he told them, it worked. Next day I was told that I had been fired and after that, they left us alone pretty quickly.”_

After that the conversation had reached a resolution and moved onto other things quite quickly, neither one of the two boys completely content with discussing the morbid pasts any longer than necessary.

Keith sighed. He was going to miss them.

A lot.

Of course, he would never admit that fact to anyone (though Shiro’s knowing smirks and conspicuous coffee in mugs with a little note saying “I’m here for you, bro!” and an awfully drawn smiley face seemed to speak for themselves).

But, at the end of the day, he had a job to do.

Entertain audiences, (and look like a badass doing it.)

So, here he was, lost in the conversation whilst Lance chirped about something or other.

His phone buzzed, and looking down at it, he saw Shiro’s text, telling him that he was done with the gym and on his way home, and “have you told Lance you’re joining me tomorrow? He needs to know, Keith!”

Ah. That.

You see, he may have forgotten to tell Lance his doctor had approved him to go back to work- which now, sitting in the coffee shop they had grown accustomed to over the past week or so as the rain pattered dismally against the glass wall, was looking to be a slight problem.

It’s just, Keith didn’t want to hurt Lance’s feelings. Though Lance put on a facade about the whole almost-falling-to-your-death thing- Keith could tell it had taken its toll on Lance. This, coupled with the fact that he couldn’t work out his frustrations- couldn’t go on a trapeze and still wouldn’t be able to for about a 2 weeks after Keith was given the okay to begin training?

Keith knew that Lance felt down.

And he didn’t want to be someone who contributed to making him feel like that.

So, he said nothing, letting Lance carry on, nodding along to Lance’s story about “how Hunk in the third grade once thought a pineapple was out to get him”.

He’d tell him at the end of the conversation. For now, he just wanted to enjoy this.

Just for a few moments more.

* * *

Coran sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. “Alfor-”

“You know that it’s true, Coran. We cannot ignore this any longer.”

“The boy did nothing wrong”

“And I’m aware of that.” Alfor stopped, putting a finger to his temples, his face solemn. Though he hated it, he could deny it no more. “He’s undoubtedly one of the most talented acrobats we’ve ever had. But that was too dangerous. It is no more than a miracle that Keith was there to catch him, and even then, we lost one of our star knife throwers to a sprained wrist because of it!”

“The boy is young-he’s inexperienced. Alfor you can’t do this-”

“If I’m right about who took the screws from the trapeze, then he might have been inexperienced, but believe me, he was no fool. He would’ve known something was going on, and he should’ve told us.”

“So, what, you’re going to fire him as soon as he’s healed?”

“There are only a couple weeks until he should be able to resume training with us- we’ll keep him until we find a worthy replacement.”

“Do you not see how ridiculous you sound? You love him! And you know he worships the ground you step on!”

Alfor turned, finally looking Coran in the eye, challenging him as Coran stared, hatred written across his face. “I will not let my circus be under threat.” He said. “If that means firing a boy with all the talent in the world, and the kindest personality to go with it…”

He turned away again, looking out of the window, where the town’ local library was. People on the street chattered aimlessly amongst themselves whilst cars zoomed past, all caught up in their own universe where they were the center of it all, unbeknownst to Alfors pain. In that instance, he was aware Coran hated him. Aside from the fact that Lance truly was an asset to the team.

Lance was, in all aspects, the heart of the circus.

He made sure anyone was always working together as a team. He listened to everyone, what they had to say and how they had to say it, with the best of interest and complete respect, no matter how silly it could have been. Whether it was a joke about Hunk’s muscles or discussing injured performers, Lance was always there, attentive, listening.

He made sure everyone didn’t overwork themselves, making sure that they were healthy and happy. When Shiro would begin to start overworking himself to exhaustion (he was in the process of finishing up his college degree), Lance would always force him to sleep, or relax, or to take a break, idiot.

He let the others vent to him whenever they needed to, and asked for little to nothing in return. He never said anything to anyone about it, never spilling a secret that someone may have told him. Trustworthy and kind, he was the reason the team had become as close as they were.

But Alfor would never forgive himself if, because of him, the other performers suffered- got hurt.

If Allura got hurt.

He sighed, closing his eyes, hating himself as he heard himself say the rest of the sentence.

“...Then so be it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this- I'm so sorry this took so long. Writer's block is a killer. 
> 
>  
> 
> Comments and kudos really keep me going.


	9. Desperate times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Others react to unfortunate news, and Lance reaches out for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Let's get this out of the way.  
> I am *so sorry* you guys. The support for this fic has been overwhelmin, but I really didin't now what I was doing when I decided to write not one, but two multi-chaptered fics as my *first fics.* It was a LOT more work than I thought it would be, and I barely got the time to just sit down, and write. This, coupled with the fact that I'm currently in the middle of my 5 week-long GCSE exams(British version of SATs, I think) so I genuinely haven't had a moment to write in a while.
> 
> That being said, come June 15th, I'm officially done with exams!! So I can promise you that I will be posting at LEAST once a fortnight- though I'm going to try to make it even less. This is quite short, but I hope you enjoy it. Longer chapters are coming after exams. 
> 
> Comments/Kudos really keep me going. Wish me luck for the exams I have in the coming 2 weeks. Love you all ridiculously.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me for this long, and without further ado, hope you enjoy!

“You _what?”_

Allura’s voice was shrill, multiple layers of anger finding their way through such a short sentence. Alfor had known that telling the others would not be an easy task, but he knew he would receive the most anger from the one person he couldn’t use his authority over- his daughter. Looking at the others, it was clear that they wore similar expressions-, anger, disbelief, shock. The only difference was, they had to hold their tongue, otherwise, they could suffer the same fate as their friend.

Only Allura wore the expression higher than the rest. Her brilliant blue eyes shone with fire, each and every part of her face illuminated by simple rage. She looked about three seconds away from bursting-so it was a stark contrast to the calm, emotionless tone of her voice that spoke next: “Father- I’d like a word, please. Now.”

You see, dear, faithful reader, Allura is an extremely patient person. Calm, and diplomatic, mature and nice, when Allura wanted to be.

Right now, Allura did not want to be.

Once alone, she started. “Tell me this is a joke. Dad- Dad I don’t care if this is some training exercise or some weird gag- tell me you didn’t fire him.”

“You know that I can’t do that, Allura.”

She scowled at him. “You- why would you- he didn’t do anything!”

Again, he sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought.

“Daughter, if you would just listen to me. The situation is a lot more complicated than I originally thought, and we can’t just-”

“You’re going to fire someone for something that wasn’t even his fault?! Who do you think you are?”

“Someone who is trying to save this circus!”

“This isn’t the way!”

“No- It’s the only way!” He took a resounding sigh, closing his eyes and willing for some sort of patience. “Lance is a very nice young man, and I’m not saying that he isn’t talented, because he is--but what he’s done, what he could do to us-the circus-”

“But it’s not his fault!”

“Don’t you think I know that?!”

Allura took a step back, her father's change of tone presenting itself like a slap in the face. It was so harsh- dripping simultaneously with poison but also guilt.

“Lance is not the first one I’ve known to get caught up in the clutches of others and their toxic ways. I have seen many in my time quit the circus completely to escape the mess they find themselves in- but usually, at that time it is unfortunately much too late. What happened to him...it cannot be repeated. This is the best decision- even if it hurts.”

Allura’s expression hardened. “How did Keith react?”

 _Shit._ ”I uh, haven’t got around to telling him that quite yet.”

Her laugh was bitter, tinged with no warmth, instead filled with ice and severity. “He won’t be happy. He’ll walk out with him- you know that.”

Alfor looked at her expression, so defiant yet clearly hurt- betrayed by her father's choice. “That’s his decision.”

“Well, then,” she said, making up her mind up. “You better find a completely new trapeze team- because if you fire him- then I’m gone too!” She said, and, with that, Allura strode out of the room, slamming the door behind her and leaving Alfor alone, wondering where he went wrong.

* * *

 

If Lance had a list, he would have to say that this week was certainly in the top 3 “bad weeks”.

First, Keith had, rather meekly, announced he was officially off of rest break.

Second, to make things a million zillion times worse, he was due back straight away, so they couldn’t even see each other one final time.

Oh yeah, and then he was fired!

It was strange, because he couldn’t fully say he wasn’t expecting it. It was rooted in the deepest worries right at the back of his head- unsure and scared to properly fathom, so stored it away where he could stifle and hopefully, just maybe, it would go away and never come to see the light of day.

He was wrong.

Once again, he found himself jobless. He stared at the email- the fucking email which detailed Altea’s “genuine sadness saying goodbye to such a bright, cheerful, talented young star”.

Bullshit.

It had been about 3 days since it had been sent, but that didn’t make the news any less raw, the wound of redundancy still fresh and hurting. He sighed, running his fingers through his greasing hair, closing his eyes and not bothering to reread the lousy excuse for a proper redundancy.

And, once more, he found himself with no fucking money.

Because what jobs were there, for a 19-year-old dropout who was pretty flexible and desperate?

 _Well_ , his mind supplied, _there’s always porn._

As if he had that kind of confidence- or knew enough about it. No, thank you.

This was just- all kinds of fucked up. A shitty mistake made a year ago when he was young and naive was swallowing up his entire life and taking his freedom and happiness with him.

  
The fact was, he needed money. A college dropout with no qualifications to his name, unwilling to step into the adult entertainment industry- what else was there.

A jolt reverberated through his body. Of course!

He still had someone. It was a long shot, sure, but they had proven in the past that they were loyal to help. And they certainly had the history to show for it. He had saved Lance’s life once before, of course.

Yes. He would know what to do.

He opened up his phone- hands shaking slightly.  
It had been a while since he had looked it, and found that he was greeted with a mountain of texts and missed calls from his friends- Pidge, Allura, Shiro, Hunk-

Keith.

His eyes flitted through the majority of them, all asking what he was doing- where was he, was he alright? That Hunk was really starting to worry, I get that you need your space, Lance, but it’s been 3 days- that Keith- that all of them were there for him- please, just call me, Lance.

He closed his eyes and sighed. Yes, he would help.

Dialing the number he had grown to learn by heart, he listened to the blood pounding in his ears. He had made up his mind.

It rang twice before there was an answer. “Lance.”

“Lotor.” He said. “Any chance you're still hiring?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all like that plot twist? ;)


	10. The Blue Paladin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is invited to a party.
> 
> What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writer's block is a killer.
> 
> I'm so sorry for the wait.
> 
> Hopefully it'll be worth it.
> 
> Also, no beta reading we die like men.

Somehow, though it had been a year, Galra Circus didn’t look any different. Dreary windows, somehow both new and yet so tired and worn out. The colours were sullen, bleak, mirroring most of the other workers within the circus.

They were currently on a break, and so were stopped in their usual, L.A based studio, thousands of miles away from Altea’s New York and Florida bases.  
  
Offseason for a lot of the other entertainment shows, plus the dramas of recent events had meant that a lot of the circus’ has decided to take an unsolicited stop from performing, which, ultimately meant that they were all staying in their hotels a lot longer than they had originally thought.   
  
Before, they were traveling a lot, which was different to the other circus, who didn’t travel a lot at this time of year. But, the break had come at a much needed time in Lance’s life. He was essentially earning money from rehearsals alone and didn’t need to worry about performing with them quite yet. Ignoring all texts from Altea Circus became easy, and Lance was somehow, beginning to get used to working with Galra Circus once again.  
  
They had been more than pleased to hire him again, acting as if nothing had happened once he had left, as if they were all as good as they claimed they were to the public.  
  
And then there were the gifts. They were all given “only the best”- the hotels, were sleek, gorgeous, something that a broke college drop out would have never been able to afford.  
  
And yet here we were.  
  
Lance shifted uncomfortably in his room.   
  
As soon as he returned, Lotor (or more importantly, his father Zarkon) had offered him the most luxurious accommodation, which included the savvy room service, silk bed sheets, and the fastest wifi he could ask for. The room itself was far bigger than Lance needed, with many different facilities, and had been stuffed full of more moisturisers, creams, soaps then he had ever seen (and he knew his skincare routine was thorough.)  
  
It was quite obvious they were attempting to win him back- officially.  
  
See, he may have returned to their circus, but until he signed the contract Lotor had lavishly handed out for him, he technically wasn’t still a part of the Galra circus. Lotor kept trying to keep him to make him sign it, promising more and more wildly inaccurate deals and gifts- but Lance refused.   
  
Signing something like that meant that it was official- that this whole thing wasn’t some kind of extended nightmare that he wasn’t waking up from- that it was real, and that this was his life, once again.  
  
He didn’t want to come face to face with that, apparently, reality. So, he did what he does best-  
  
Ignore it and pretend his problems don’t exist until he eventually forgets about them.  
  
So that was where he found himself, sitting on his far too big bed in his far too big room, with a complimentary Netflix account waiting to be used- bored.  
  
There was nothing to do! They were far from a town or anything with any sort of reasonable attraction- his family didn’t know about any of these things happening, and he had no friends aside from the Altea Circus ones.  
  
Wow. Admitting that was...rough.  
  
Just as he was about to give up and go to bed (at 7:30!) there was a curt knocking at his door. Rising slowly, he rubbed his eyes as he padded towards the sleek white door, muttering “I’m coming- I’m coming” to the insistent knocking.  
  
“Give-” He muttered, crossing his way over to the door. “-me-” He started to open the door, if out of need to get the knocking to shut up more than anything "a- second-”  
  
He opened the door, still rubbing his eye, mind wildly for a split second hoping it could be Keith, except it couldn’t possibly be Keith because he’s in New York and has no idea you’re across the country you idiot- not focusing on anything when-   
  
“Lance, baby!”   
  
Ugh.  
  
“Lotor. Hi.”  
  
Pushing past Lance with no invitation, Lotor strode in, placing a rather large, but thin bag on the table next to the bed. He sat down comfortably, stretching his obviously well-kept, athletic body across Lance’s bed.“I noticed you were a no show at the party I’m hosting. What gives?”  
  
Lance remained stood at the door, raising his eyebrows in confusion. “I didn’t even know there was a party.”  
  
“Oh, but it’s a tradition! Whenever it’s off-season and we travel to a new place, the newby has to throw a party for everyone!”  
  
Again, Lance found himself frowning, this time slowly walking over to where Lotor was, who now found himself fiddling with his perfect nails. “But you’re not the newby.”  
  
“No?” Lotor hummed in reply. “Then, pray tell-” he looked up, directly into Lance’s eyes, and suddenly he felt much too uncomfortable much too quickly. “-Who is?”  
  
_Ah._ Said his mind. _See this right here? This is a trap._ And though his mind tended to dramatise most things (one of the many different perks of being a theatre kid, apparently), for once, the logical part of Lance didn’t disagree. Lance admitting that he was, in fact, the newest member, meant that Lance would essentially be implying that he was an official part of that circus.  
  
Something he had managed to wriggle his way out of admitting was no longer to be avoided, apparently. Lance thought back to Altea Circus, thought back to how they had treated him- blaming him for someone else’s sabotage.   
  
He thought about Keith.  
  
“Lance?” Lotor prompted, eyes not for a moment leaving their gaze upon Lance’s face. “I asked you a question.”  
  
Lance sighed.“I thought I was the newby, wasn’t I?   
  
And Lotor smiled wide, somehow gracefully rising from the plush pillows attempting to encompass him, making his way over to Lance and pulling his arms around the shorter man. “But of course. But I just knew that you would be tired, and I thought I’d do you a favour.” Lotor let go of Lance and began rifling through Lance’s closet. He did this for a minute or so before apparently not finding whatever he was looking for and turning back to Lance, smiling even wider than before. “I thought I’d throw the party, but it would be in...your honour.”  
  
Lance blinked. “My what?”  
  
Lotor ignored him, instead placing the bag he had been holding into Lance’ hands. “I just knew you wouldn’t be bringing anything quite as...appropriate, for the evening, so I took some of your measurements and tailored you this.”  
  
“You-” He looked down into the bag, and, though he couldn’t see a lot of the contents, he could quite clearly see that inside was a rather gorgeous blue suit. “Lotor you did _what?”_  
  
“Oh, it really is quite alright,” Lotor said, apparently taking that as a thanks. “Honestly, you need it, really. Such a promising young man as yourself, you were in dire need of some formal attire. And besides-” He began to walk, regal and graceful as ever, towards the door. “You just look so... _interesting_ in blue.”  
  
Lance gaped.  
  
“Address is in the suit’s pocket,” Lotor said, before stopping at the edge of the door, turning back to look at Lance. “I look forward to seeing you there.”  
  
And then he was gone.  
  
Lance stared down at his suit- his suit that Lotor had tailored specifically for him.  
  
He pulled out the entire suit, and honestly, he couldn’t help but stare.   
  
It truly was beautiful, a deep blue colour with silver and black accents along the outsides. It was subtle, yet stood out. Classy, yet bold.  
  
Perfect.  
  
_No_!!!!!! His mind broke in. _This is a trap!_  
But he wasn’t technically saying that he was officially joining, just by turning up to the party.  
  
And it was being thrown in his name…  
  
Against his mind’s wishes, he closed his front door, before quickly dressing into the suit. He applied some light, subtle makeup (to cover the tiredness more than anything) and, after about 15 minutes, stood staring at himself in the mirror the piece of paper with the address and instructions to call for a specific uber driver written neatly in purple clutched in his hand.  
  
  
After following the instructions, about 5 minutes after calling the Uber driver, he heard his doorbell. Thinking it was Lotor, Lance stood, surprised, when a man dressed in a white suit stood back at him.  
  
“Mr. McClain?”  
  
“Uh...yes?”  
  
“I will be your driver today. Lotor specifically requested it.” Then, he reached, motioning to Lance’s phone. “I’m sorry, Mr. McClain, but all parties are specifically no phones allowed. Lotor wishes for people to live more in the present.”  
  
Lance blinked, before murmuring “Okay.” He placed his phone back down on the cabinet next to the door. Whilst he wasn’t so sure about Lotor’s ideology, he himself didn’t want to worry about anything or anyone, but himself tonight.  
  
He followed the driver downstairs until they reached the entrance, where stood no car, but-  
  
A white Limo.  
  
Oh, Dios.  
  
Lance backed up slowly. “Uh…”  
  
The driver noticed this, beckoning him forward, towards the white Limo. “Do not worry, Sir. The fee has already been taken care of. You are to enjoy your time tonight, yes?”  
  
_No._ His logical brain chimed in _. This is just to guilt you into saying that you’ll join officially!”_  
  
He decided that his logical brain was rather annoying, so he would be, until further notice, ignoring it.  
  
“Yes.” Lance replied. I suppose I am.” He climbed into the limo before the driver sat down himself, and soon, they began to drive.  
  
They drove for almost 15 minutes before reaching their destination- a huge building with rather large men in crisp white suits standing guard at the front of the two huge doors.   
  
The Limo pulled up, before stopping, and suddenly another man opened the door for him, asking: “Mr. McClain?”   
  
Mr. McClain nodded.  
  
“Please, come this way.”  
  
They walked up to the gates before the men at the door clicked something on the side and the doors began to open. There were people swarmed, filling up the room with laughter and excitable chatter.   
  
Suddenly, hands were coming around his shoulder once again. Looking up, he saw Lotor spare him a quick grin, before clearing his throat, the entire room immediately silencing.  
  
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce the reason for this whole party, the star of the show himself- Lance McClain, _**the new Blue Paladin!”** _  
  
_...What did he just say?_  
  
Roars of approval echoed from the crowd, and soon, they began chanting something. Only later would he realise they were yelling “Blue! Blue! Blue!”  
  
“Welcome back to Galra Circus, Lance,” said Lotor, still smiling down at him amidst the deafening chants. “Officially, I mean.”  
  
Oh.   
  
Oh _no._

  
 _You fool._ Said Lance’s mind. _I told you it was a trap._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Tumblr is @Klaxces. Come message me and we can talk about how I procrastinated this for 5 months ;)
> 
> I have a Ko-Fi Page now! Which I literally put it up for about 4 hours ago so I have no idea how it works but if any of you would be so incredibly kind to donate to it, the link is here: https://ko-fi.com/klaxces
> 
> Thankyou so much for waiting so much. You guys mean the absolute world to me. I hope you liked the chapter :)


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